Wednesday, November 12, 2008

No, Dexter Morgan!

Fictional crime series are oftentimes looked upon as bad influences to the society due to the influences it creates on the youth. Showtime’s Dexter isn’t an exception. In fact, earlier this year, the award-winning series has been criticized by the Parents Television Council after the show debuted on CBS. Creator Jeff Lindsay disdainfully commented that the show mustn’t be condemned, while others believe that it is the parents’ duty to guide their kids when it comes to watching TV.

More recently, Dexter’s name was again thrown into the spotlight after an Edmonton filmmaker was charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 38-year-old Johnny Brian Altinger.

Back in August, the accused Mark Twitchell wrote on his Facebook site’s status notation, “Mark has way too much in common with Dexter Morgan,” referring to the titular character of the Showtime series. On October 31, Twitchell was arrested after police retrieved a script for House of Cards, a short horror film he wrote about a serial killer who murders a cheating husband after pretending to be a woman through online communication and later luring him in. Meanwhile, the case has been put over until November 26, as the Canadian Press reports that the 29-year-old Twitchell did not appear in court on Wednesday.

Jim Siokos, a fellow film enthusiast, admitted to CBC that “Mark may have lost track of what film was all about. It's for enjoyment. It is for artful purposes and it's not a template to create your person, your character, your actions."

University of Victoria pop culture expert Kim Blank explains that pop culture is pervasive, and that through media, it can greatly influence the minds of some individuals.

"TV, video game and movie violence has become a consumable product and such violence, consumed so easily, can become both banal and internalized," Blank told the National Post. "We are all vulnerable to such a process, and clearly some more than others."

Meanwhile, fans can still catch Dexter’s next episode, which airs tomorrow at 9pm. “Easy as Pie” will follow Miguel as he targets a new victim for Dexter, who’s not sure if he’s a perfect fit into the code. Later, an elderly ill friend of Dexter’s asks him to help her commit suicide and Rita learns that Miguel’s wife thinks he’s having an affair. Debra then tells Anton that he’s being used as decoy to nab the Skinner.